Bad news: Donkey Sanctuary Bonaire is forced to remove!

In 1993 Marina Melis and Ed Koopman started to care for injured, ill and orphaned donkeys in the back yard of their house on Bonaire. Later on, they were allowed to use space at the local animal shelter and a little piece of land in the ‘kunuku’. Considering the huge number of donkeys that needed shelter, this was an untenable situation. We badly needed an accommodation of our own.

In good consultation with the autorities, in 1998 our foundation was offered to rent a piece of land from the Government of Bonaire. This plot of land, of about 13,5 hectares, was placed at our disposal for a symbolic rental price. Gratefully we accepted to rent this ground and established Donkey Sanctuary Bonaire on it.

Mainly with our own hands, we built all required facilities here, among which: stables for injured and ill donkeys, an orphan field where foals that lost their mothers are being cared for, a meadow where pregnant mares can deliver and nurse their foals in piece, a water well and a wind generator, a little shop where we welcome visitors and sell some souvenirs, a watch-tower, the garden for iguanas and tortoises and a house for our managers.

As Bonaire will soon become a special municipality of the Netherlands, new laws and regulations will apply. Donkey Sanctuary Bonaire will be too close to the runway of the airfield, according to these new rules. Therefore, medio 2008, the Government gave us notice and told us to leave the rented plot of land and dismantle all buildings by the 1st of October 2008. Of course that was an impossible demand! Fortunately we were granted a delay untill the 1st of October 2009.

However, it still is a big disaster for us, because it will take a lot of money and effort to accomplish this mandatory re-location in time. Unsatisfactory, untill now no compensation or support is offered by the Dutch and Bonairian government to ensure the continued existence of Donkey Sanctuary Bonaire. Of course we are badly trying to find funds to pay for this re-location. But it is a very difficult ‘race against time’.

Where will we move to? Fortunately, some years ago, thanks to sponsors we were able to buy a piece of land of our own, adjacent to the rental ground. This own plot of land was bought as a necessary extension, considering the increasing number of donkeys in our sanctuary. Untill now this own ground was uncultivated and only meant to offer living space to adult donkeys. Anyway, now we will have to rebuild all our facilities on this site.

We will work with might and main to establish this re-location in time and to collect the necessary money for it. If Donkey Sanctuary Bonaire can not go on, all our donkeys would be back on the streets again and would face a horrible future. This may absolutely not come true! Therefore we hope for your support to Donkey Sanctuary Bonaire.